Light rail at heart of Quebec City transport plan

THE mayor of Quebec City, Mr Régis Labeaume, in the presence of Quebec province’s premier Mr Philippe Couillard and the president of Capital Transport Network (RTC) Mr Rémy Normand, has unveiled a $C 2.9bn ($US 2.22bn) plan to expand the city’s public transport network, as the existing bus-based system is at maximum capacity in several locations.

The plan has four components:• construction of a 23km light rail line of which 3.5km would be underground• construction of a 17km rubber-tyred “trambus”• provision of 16km of dedicated public transit right-of-way, and• provision of 110km of a hybrid-power “metrobus” network.

The U-shaped light rail line will run from Le Gendre via Sainte-Foy West, and Laval University to Louis XIV. It will have conventional overhead electrification, and a maximum gradient of 8%. The LRVs will be bidirectional with a capacity of 260 passengers and will run at 3-5-minute headways during peak periods. Services will operate between 05.00 and 01.00.

The objective is that 65% of the population, or 344,000 people, will be within 800m of one of the new public transport components, with at least 80% of neighbourhoods served by at least one component, and 85% of companies served by the network.

The cost of the project includes both infrastructure and vehicles, while another $C 300m will be needed for related work.

By 2019, Quebec City wants to sign a financing agreement with the provincial and possibly the Canadian federal governments, finalise the business case, and complete design studied for the infrastructure and rolling stock. Plans and specifications will be completed in 2020-21 along with approval of the environmental aspects. Construction of the light rail line and depot is expected to start in 2022 with a view to opening the line in 2026.